This past weekend was my 15 year class reunion and my hometown’s 125th birthday. The 4 of us made the trek back to my hometown to check it out. We got there on Friday evening and Eric and I went out to the street dance – at the taunting of my sisters. (I was extremely anxious the entire time I was in high school. Whenever I go back home I still feel the same way so going to the street dance wasn’t something I would have done without the "motivational" speech my sister gave me.) There were a lot of people around that I had not seen in many years and a lot of my cousins and uncles were home so it was nice to everyone.
The next morning I decided to play in the alumni marching band. We met at 9:00 to practice and then the 40 or so of us marched up to the parade at 10. We played 2 songs that all of us had played whenever we were in high school. It was amazing how much of it comes back to you. Same with the marching. By the 3rd time we played the songs I felt like I would be fine and once we got on the street the marching came back to me pretty quickly. It was a blast. We marched down main street and we sounded good. Since we were first behind the US flag, there was plenty of time to put my borrowed instrument away and head back up to my family to watch the rest of the parade. I didn’t get to see Katie in it though, she was in a float for my sister’s business and they were apparently not too far back from the band. Anyways the parade was really fun, they got around 100 or so entrants and everyone had a great time. After the parade there was a free hamburgers and prime rib sandwich feed. I had the prime rib sandwich and it was fantastic. Since it was a free meal I figured it would be marginal at best but the meat was fabulous. Salty and smoky – hats off to the family that donated all of it. It was really good. Immediately following that the sand volleyball tournament started and Eric was recruited to be on my cousin’s team. They played throughout the afternoon and finished second. They had fun and it was fun to watch. After showering we went to my class reunion gathering at 6:00. Families were invited so I got to see everyone else’s families. Also there were a few people there that I hadn’t seen in a really long time (15 years to be exact) and it was good to see how they had grown and changed. It is amazing how this group that I knew as a kid (and I still think of as kids) have now moved into their 30s and made lives of their own. After the reunion I went up to the second street dance of the weekend with my sisters and Eric stayed at my parents’ house with the girls. There was fireworks around 11:00 so Katie was all about staying up for those – even though she was extremely tired. Amelia, not one to be left out, was not going to sleep for anything either. At the street dance I mostly talked to my family members. I know I should have talked more to my classmates but even at 33 they make me incredibly nervous. My cousins however, I have a blast around so it is more fun to talk to them. On Sunday morning Eric and I went over to my grandparents’ house and dug up some of their flowers to take home with me. My grandma has some great daisies that I love to get some when I can and she loves to give them to me so it is a fun thing we have to do together. We left for home around 11. The whole weekend was a blur. There was a thousand fun things to do and we were all extremely tired when we left.
Eric's space 